Religiosity and Religious Coping in Patients with COPD: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Between Brazil and the Netherlands and Associations with Physical and Psychological Health.

This study aimed to compare religiosity and religious coping (RC) between Brazilian and Dutch patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to examine associations with physical and psychological health. Religiosity, RC, and physical and psychological health were cross-sectionally assessed in 161 patients with COPD (74 from Brazil and 87 from the Netherlands). Brazilian participants showed the greatest religiosity (p < 0.05), and weak correlations were observed between religiosity/RC and exercise capacity and quality of life (p < 0.05 for all analyses). Brazilian patients with COPD had higher religiosity than Dutch patients, and religiosity correlated with functional exercise capacity and quality of life.

Impact of the Bowel Management Program on the quality of life in children with fecal incontinence.

PURPOSE: Evaluate the impact of implementing Bowel Management Program (BMP) on quality of life (QoL) in children with fecal incontinence (FI). METHODS: Children 3-12 years referred to the Children's Treatment Center of FI were included and categorized accordingto the tendency to constipation (dilated colon; group 1) or diarrhea (non-dilated colon; group 2). Evaluations were performed before and after 3 months of BMP implementation. Perceptions from parents and children about QoL were assessed by the instrument PedsQL4.0 and the severity of FI by the fecal incontinence index (FII) of Wexner scale. RESULTS: 43 children (mean age of 7.7 ± 3.1) were studied. 32 (74.4 %) belonged to group 1 and 11 (25.6 %) to group 2. After 3 months of BMP, it was noticed a significant improvement of the FII (14.5 ± 3.7 versus 2.8 ± 2.5; p < 0.001) in both groups. QoL perception by the parents and children increased on PedsQL4.0 evaluation (p < 0.001). There was a medium inverse statistically significant correlation of the FII and the total PedsQL4.0 score among children and parents (r = -0.47, p = 0.009 and r = -0, 39, p = 0.03, respectively). CONCLUSION: The BMP applied by a multidisciplinary dedicated team significantly improves the QoL of children with FI in the short-term period.